The Great and Powerfull Trixie - 11th of Midsummer ‘15 EoH - MorningThe Great and Powerfull Trixie - 11th of Midsummer ‘15 EoH - Morning
The Great and Powerful Trixie felt her heart slow as the two princesses, and presumably one of their concubines, walked into the doorway. A quarter hour ago, Trixie could have walked right past them, unnoticed due to her Somepony Else’s Problem spell. But Trixie had lowered her illusions to allow the young Doctor to work on her.
Trixie was exposed!
Thinking fast, the Great and Powerful Trixie reached into her pocket for a smoke bomb, but was dismayed to discover she had reached into her pocket of silica dust instead. With a grim heart she threw the expensive sand, wishing to avoid resorting to combat in her getaway.
All that would do would be to damage this young stallion’s establishment. Trixie had already spaced his name. She should at least not damage his property...
“Pocket sand!” Trixie shouted, throwing the hoof full of sand in an arc and bolting forward in one swift and fluid lunge.
The phrase was more distracting than Trixie’s actual sand. The three mares flinching at the expectation of more sand than was coming gave Trixie the opening to slide under Luna’s belly, respectfully avoiding a peek upwards (Even though Trixie loves to gawk at a pretty mare, there is such a thing as being rude.), and sliding out the door to the safety of the yard!
Safety? What in Tartarus is Trixie thinking? There’s an open doorway to her plot, not a wall!
Trixie scrambled to her hooves, and immediately noticed a pile of old rotten cloth and furniture, presumably having been recently removed from the old fortress. She sprinted, dove, and slid into place between a moldy futon and a pile of moth-eaten drapes. Then she quickly wrapped her cape about herself and cast a spell, projecting the appearance of a soiled pile of rags over herself.
Illusions were the Great and Powerful Trixie’s special talent. Not only the sleight of hoof tricks, but all forms of illusion, even the School of Magic. Not even Twilight Sparkle would be able to detect her-
The three burst from the door! Looking for any sign of Trixie’s trial. Fools! There wasn’t one to fi-
“There she is!” The minty colored presumably-a-concubine mare exclaimed, pointing directly at Trixie! “Scent trail stops right there!”
Motherbucker!
Trixie jumped, flipping over backwards to land atop the futon as Luna’s telekinetic grip engulfed the spot she had been a second before!
It was as Trixie feared, she remained a wanted mare. Long range teleportation would have been nice, but sadly, Trixie had never been able to wrap her head around the math. Trixie had no choice but to escalate her game!
As her rear left hoof touched down, Trixie threw her forelegs to the sides, sprang off the broken chair, somersaulted to the left, spawned three doppelgangers of herself with a quick spell, then immediately focused and teleported to the house built upon the fortress’s roof! At least Trixie could teleport places she could see…
“The real one went to the roof!” Twilight exclaimed, leaping into the air, wings beating to send her rapidly into the sky.
Curses! Of course Ms. Talented in All Magic would have sensed Trixie’s spell. The Dopplegangers had no reason to teleport, what was Trixie thinking!?
Trixie took a deep breath, she didn't’ want to fight anypony, and the two Princesses swiftly bearing down upon her showed they were quite serious about capturing her. Trixie knew that Twilight could teleport anywhere she wished, she would not be able to outrun her. As for the Princess of the Moon, Trixie knew she could track a falcon over bare stone on a cloudy day.
Trixie sighed. She hated fighting. It was so boring, to easy, too simple. There had to be some avenue to avoid such tedium, the game couldn’t end just yet, Trixie was having fun!
In a burst of inspiration, Trixie reared up, reached beneath her cloak, burned a little mana to make her aura flare brightly, then threw a spread of illusory daggers, ten from each hoof, spraying them air in front of her with the non-substantial weapons, making them burst apart into dozens of tiny metal shards in mid air!
The two princesses immediately threw up shields! Trixie dove forwards, taking advantage of the shield raising induced split second of blindness to vault over the rail around the roof before dropping into the courtyard below. She landed amidst her doppelganger's each of whom was busily performing random actions.
All Trixie had to do was blend in and allow them to think she was gone.
“Got her!” The minty mare shouted.
A pair of legs wrapped themselves around Trixie’s barrel with far more strength than should have been possible!
Trixie’s doppelgangers vanished as her concentration was broken. With an alarmed yelp, Trixie did her best to throw the crazy-strong mare from her back, but to no avail! Even worse she noticed the two Princesses circling overhead, forming a ceiling on the tiny courtyard.
“Let her go!” The young doctor's voice shouted. “She can’t get too stressed! I just heal-”
Trixie was not stressed! Trixie was having fun. Well, okay, she was a little afraid, but Trixie had been in worse places. She could still get out of this.
“Bees!” Trixie shouted, throwing up an illusion to make it appears as if she had exploded into a pony sized swarm of bees!
The minty mare let go of Trixie with a horrified shriek, allowing Trixie to sprint for the open archway towards freedom!
Only to let her illusion drop and skid to a halt as two ponies suddenly walked into the archway. One was the Element of Laughter herself, and the other was a burnt orange pegasus stallion with extremely handsome features.
Blast! The Purple Terror had called for reinforcements!
“Woah! Part three!” The stallion exclaimed, ears standing up in a gleeful surprise.
“Hi Trixie!” Pinkie greeted with a cheerful halfwave, like the creepily permanently happy mare she was.
“Sky! Do something!” The doctor called as Trixie dodge rolled to her right to avoid a telekinetic grab from Luna.
The stallion, Sky, nodded. “Right!” He said firmly, reaching back for his saddlebags and retrieving a boombox, which he immediately set down and activated.
The sounds of a dramatic choir and orchestra filled the courtyard. “Pinkie, popcorn me.” Sky ordered.
“Here ya go, Triggie.” Trixie heard Pinkie say as Trixie reached into her cape and threw a smoke bomb the minty mare’s way.
“Faust verdammt! I meant stop them! Trixie can’t get too stressed! Medical reasons!” The doctor shouted.
“Sorry Lily, but we need to talk to her, National Security!” The minty mare shouted back.
Trixie was not liking the current odds. At the present rate she would have to use more than illusions and implied danger. Not only would that be boring, but it would make life even harder as the Princesses might have her prosecuted. At the same time, Trixie could not afford a prison sentence now.
She had to stay free so she could assassinate father. The Great and Powerful Trixie therefore also couldn’t use too much mana escaping. Her upgrades only let her save a day’s unused energy for the future, they didn’t allow her to generate more mana faster…
“I’d stop her, but you wouldn’t appreciate the mess,” Sky called. “So... We came over to take you to breakfast, and I was thinking of building you a few odds and ends for your clinic.”
Ah ha! So Twilight hadn't called for them! Trixie had an opening.
“Demigods are fighting one of my patients!” The doctor shouted angrily.
“Yeperooni!” Pinkie called as Trixie leapt over the minty mare’s head with a telekinetic assist. “This is the third time too! Last time it was a magic-off.”
Twilight whistled, prompting Trixie to look up and see the barrage of stun bolts screaming her way! Trixie teleported to the opposite side of the arena, arriving next to the junk pile once more. The stun bolts thudded to the stone in a shower of lavender sparks!
Taking advantage of the disorientation, Trixie drew upon her magic, spawning a second group of doppelgangers, and teleported again, swapping places with the one to the left.
“Hell yeah! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!” Sky exclaimed exuberantly.
Trixie blinked in surprise. An audience? For her escape? Well then, it was only fair for her to give them a show!
“Sky, help, please!” The doctor pleaded.
“No, Sky, don’t help!” Twilight begged as she dove downwards, firing a volley of ray spells which dispelled several of Trixie’s doubles.
“Sorry little bro, you heard the Princess,” Sky replied causally. “They’ll be fine. Look, pull up a chair, this is awesome! ”
Trixie looked upwards, Luna was diving down, forelegs outstretched to grab. There was no time to dodge! Trixie felt the Princess’s hooves grip her shoulders as her own hooves left the ground!
Thinking quickly, Trixie leaned forwards and kissed Luna on the nose with the best romantic kiss she could manage! Luna sputtered, dropping Trixie in confusion, giving her enough time to roll behind the junk pile for a quick breath of air to soothe her burning-from-a-serious-workout muscles.
“Luna! Why?!” Twilight demanded.
“She kissed me!” Luna exclaimed in shock.
“That’s no reason to drop her!” Twilight shot back angrily.
“Yeah! Romantic flights are the best flights!” Pinkie agreed eagerly.
With breath regained, Trixie raced around the side of the pile, moving for the archway. If she could get into the street, there would be an open door or a window she could see and teleport through. Trixie could do this! Trixie could-
Be blocked by the minty mare standing between her and the archway! Curses, foiled again!
Trixie juked to the side, dodging a triple blast of golden stunbolts with a smile, coyly moving at the last possible second with all of her speed to make it a better show for her audience. Even if it was only for two of them.
Reaching under her cloak, Trixie retrieved a length of rope, and gave it a whirl in preparation to throw!
“You’re not fooling me with another illusion!” The minty mare exclaimed, refusing to budge.
Trixie threw the rope, animating it mid flight to coil about the mare’s legs in a tight knot!
“That one’s real!” Trixie called with a laugh.
Trixie was free and clear! She bunched her legs beneath her, dove under another telekinetic grab from the cute Princess, used her own telekinesis to give herself a burst of speed, blazed a trail towards the archway, jumped to clear the air above Sky-
And smashed into something with a crunch and shower of blue-gray static, stopping her dead in her tracks!
“Urgh…” Trixie groaned, getting back up to her hooves.
“Shield generator in the saddlebag buckle. Blocked the archway.” Sky said through a mouthful of popcorn, preempting Trixie’s question with the answer.
Trixie staggered to her feet, temporarily dazed by the impact. So dazed in fact, that she forgot she had hooves instead of feet. A very weird thing considering Trixie never had feet in her life!
Trixie had just enough time to worry she might have gotten a concussion before Princess’s Luna’s aura tightly engulfed her body, lifting her a short distance off the ground!
“Enough!” Luna shouted. “It’s over, the day is ours, stop struggling!”
It would certainly seem like that, but Trixie had one trick in her cape for this sort of thing. Though she would rather not use it. There was but one thing to do.
“Trixie will cooperate if she is allowed to leave after being interrogated and not imprisoned.” Trixie promised.
“Awww!” Sky sighed, turning off his boombox. “I wanted to force an aerial exit…”
“It’s okay Triggie, we’ll just wait for part four! It gets better every time, so next time will totally be a fight on top of an airship or something!” Pinkie soothed while patting him on the back.
Trixie nodded to herself. Yes, an airship battle would be fun, but why not have it take place hopping between the tops of TWO airships? That would be far more dramat-
“Wait!” Twilight demanded landing a short ways away from Trixie, looking at her in total bafflement, “You thought you were under arrest? Luna, you said she was wanted for questioning, she didn’t commit some crime I haven’t heard about, has she?”
“Based on her fleeing, I’m guessing she has,” Luna said firmly. “We can’t talk about this in public… Baron von Maresburg, may we use your business's privacy for a short time?” Luna asked looking at the white stallion.
“Yes, if I am allowed to remain near her to ensure you don’t cause an autoimmune response- Wait, Baron? What?” The doctor asked.
Von Maresburg? Now that was interesting… Very interesting! Trixie had a question for the ‘good’ doctor now, one she could reasonably leave until they were inside.
“Celestia has finalized your recompense for saving her from crippling injury, while not officiated yet, you have been granted the title of Baron. As such, I included it in the required formal request to use your property.” Luna explained. “I also accept your terms. Doctor Trigger, Lady Trigger, Sir Heartstrings, I’m afraid you must wait here until we are done… And no eavesdropping, spying, or otherwise observing the goings on!”
“I make no promises.” Sky and Pinkie chorused.
Twilight facehooved. “Luna, if you’d said nothing, it wouldn’t have been a problem, now it will be!”
“Trixie would like clarification, is she or is she not under arrest?” Trixie asked.
Luna grit her teeth. “Must you speak in third person?”
“Yes...” Trixie answered in a deadpan.
She must also think in the third person, but that is neither here nor there.
“Luna, trust me, she does that all the time, she’s not mocking you.” Twilight said as the two, began to take her inside.
Luna nodded. “Very well. Ms. Lulamoon, you are wanted for questioning regarding a possible sibling of yours in relation to her criminal activities. Activities which your fleeing suggest you are an accomplice to.”
Trixie felt she may as well be honest. “Trixie has many sisters. If you caught one, then she understands why you sought her out. Trixie has nothing to do with her family anymore… Also, Trixie ran because she thought Twilight was going to press charges for her… Amulet fueled rampage.”
Twilight gave Trixie another baffled look. “Why would I do that? You were possessed by a piece of King Sombra’s Regalia! A litch was slowly transforming you into itself! You literally couldn’t have been prosecuted for any of that if I’d wanted to. Sure, at the time I’d thought you had done everything under your own accord, but you seemed genuinely apologetic and it was clear the power had gone to your head.”
Trixie did not comprehend what Twilight meant. “Trixie doesn't understand.” She said as Luna brought her back into the ‘clinic’ and Twilight closed the door, leaving her along with the Princesses and the doctor of ironic relations.
“Uh, I forgave you for that. It’s water under the bridge.” Twilight elaborated with a frown.
There was that word again. Forgave. Forgive. Trixie didn’t understand that word. It’s concept felt alien… It didn’t mesh with any of her experiences.
“Trixie still doesn't understand…” Trixie said with an apologetic frown.
“S-seriously?” Twilight asked along with Luna, the doctor, and his secretary.
“Oh! Right. Ember, can you give us some privacy please?” Lily asked.
“Sure.” The blue almost cute mare agreed, trotting off deeper into the clinic.
Trixie nodded. “Yes. She knows not what you mean.”
Twilight triple blinked. “You don’t understand the concept of forgiveness? That a pony can have ill feelings towards you, but later, over time, those feelings go away, and they put the issue behind them to allow you a second chance?”
Trixie shook her head. “No… Trixie’s not dumb. She knows the word, but… She’s never experienced it’s meaning. You can know a word, but if you don't think you’ve ever seen what that word means it’s… It’s not something you understand.”
“You’re saying that in your entire life, nopony has ever forgiven you for anything?” Luna asked Trixie incredulously.
“Trixie has lived away from her family for fifteen years. She has traveled all that time, she’s not been to the same place twice more than a dozen times,” Trixie explained. “She hasn’t had friends. She doesn't understand a lot of social things ponies do because of that… And she’s very sure her father doesn't know even the word forgive.”
Everypony grew silent for a few long moments. The doctor eventually broke the silence.
“It’s even worse when you know she came in here to get her back healed from a flogging…” He mumbled while looking upon the floor.
Why do ponies do that? The floor is not a conversational partner! Ah well, a question for another time.
“Trixie will answer your questions,” Trixie said, hoping to be let free of Luna’s telekinetic grip as she was not a fan of immobilization, “but first, Doctor, are you related to Herzog Verhärtetes Herz von Maresburg?”
The white stallion flinched with an intensity Trixie had not expected. It looked like his mouth wanted to rip open to stretch even more!
“Ja, let’s not talk about my father. I have abandoned that family.” He said slowly.
“Is this true?” Trixie asked.
“Ja… I told you, he lit me on fire once. Why would I have anything to do with him? Why do you think I’m here and not in Germaney anymore?” He asked bitterly, kicking a hoof against the floor.
“Trixie is sorry for bringing it up. But it’s rather ironic because your father knows Trixie’s father.”
“It’s not ironic, it's just coincidental!” Sky's voice exclaimed irritably.
All heads turned to the direction of the voice in time to see pink and green hooves pull the speaker out of sight accompanied by a loud,”SHHHH!”
Twilight sighed into her hoof. “Told you… I swear, those two...”
“Anyway... Trixie knows this because she once inspected inbound freight, and Herzog Verhärtetes Herz von Maresburg sent much of the cargo,” Trixie explained.
Trixie turned to Luna. “Will you let go of Trixie please? She is on your side… Assuming you also wish her father to die.”
Luna nodded slowly. “Assuming we are talking about the same-”
“Whoa! Hold it! Why would you want to kill your own father? How can you even think of doing that?” Twilight exclaimed in shock, jaw hanging slack.
“Trixie’s father is evil,” Trixie explained.
“Uh, Twilight,” Luna began, “I didn’t give you more than the basic information-”
Twilight swelled slightly, anger building as she exclaimed. “Just because he’s evil doesn't mean you need to kill him! Everypony deserves-”
Trixie let her ears lay back, as she gave Twilight an angry glare. “Equestrians like you are almost idiots! Trixie understands that you abhor violence, but you are pacifists to a fault. My father wants nothing more than to see your head on a stake in front of his throne as he rules over all Equestria, with all Pegasi and earth ponies merely disposable slaves under the unicorns.
“He sees this as the natural order. As good, just, and fair. He has held his beliefs for many thousands of years and the longer a pony holds onto a belief, the harder it is to change it. He will not stop unless he is killed. He would happily wait out a thousand year banishment and then simply begin again from scratch. He has already done that very thing once before!
“Trixie understands your objection. Though designed for battle, killing bores her. She doesn't like it. But sometimes it’s necessary and proper to destroy somepony, and that’s how it is with Trixie’s father… It… It breaks her heart.
“He’s evil. Trixie knows that now. It took many things. Her flogging. Being made to fight a Roc to prove she was worthy and losing her eye… He never cared. Trixies are disposable. Tools. But even…even now she still loves him. We all do. But she knows he is evil, delusional, and a threat to others… And there is only one way to stop him!”
Trixie had never opened up to anypony completely before. It felt… Liberating.
It also apparently put other ponies into horrified silence. See this is why Trixie never talks about her past in detail. The conversation just stops dead…
“Well… It's safe to say that you are related to the terrorist we captured.” Luna said at last breaking the silence.
“You said you captured a terrorist, not an indoctrinated pony carrying out the will of an ancient and evil person!” Twilight objected, ears drooping as she gave Luna a horrified look.
“Twilight, we were in the middle of the street! This is a national security matter.” Luna hissed.
She nodded slowly. “I...I know but I wasn’t prepared for-”
“Trixies are not indoctrinated,” Trixie said objectively. “That implies being taught not to think of other ways of thinking critically. Trixies are taught that… We are also taught logical proofs dismantling those viewpoints as fallacious. We are taught that all beliefs are meaningless and arbitrary, Trixies believe nothing, so we only want to make father happy. It’s probably worse than indoctrination.”
“Wait, Trixies?” The doctor asked. “As in plural?”
He gave Trixie a suspicious look. Ah yes, he was a biomancer. He knew, or at least suspected.
“Trixie is…a pony. We can all agree on this?” Trixie asked, turning to look at everypony with a concerned frown.
“Um, obviously,” Twilight said with a suspicious eyebrow raise.
“Well, you could be a changeling,” Luna mused.
Trixie giggled. “Trixie wishes she was a changeling! She’s always wanted to be with ponies who don't like Trixie because of her sex. Being able to change that when Trixie wanted to would be wonderful. But no, Trixie is a unicorn… Sort of.”
“You’re a clone.” The doctor said decisively, giving Trixie a little nod.
“Oh please! That’s not even remotely scientifically or arcanely poss…” Twilight trailed off, a look on her face suggesting she realized she was talking to somepony who would know better than she did on the subject. “Germaney has made viable equine clones, haven’t they?”
“Ja. We have. Und it’s not very hard,” He answered. “You just need to know biomancy. I could make a clone if I liked… But I have no reason to. It's also not very ethical... Individual organs sure, but there's no point to cloning an entire person. Other than to mass produce people. Who are you a clone of, Trixie?”
“Trixies are not a clone of anypony. Trixies were designed from scratch. The Great and Powerful Trixie is the first Trixie.” Trixie explained.
“This is why third person speak is so infuriating!” Luna growled. “What do you mean by that.”
“The Trixie you are talking to,” Trixie explained again, “is called the Great and Powerful Trixie. She is the first Trixie, and was created in a test tube. This is the original and best Trixie.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold it!” Twilight exclaimed holding out a hoof in a stop gesture. “You mean that ‘the Great and Powerful’ is actually part of your name?”
Trixie nodded and smile. “Yes. This Trixie is the prototype. She was too expensive, so the other Trixies are less powerful, thus, this Trixie is ‘the Powerful Trixie’. This Trixie is also the only pony ever to leave the Ashes, and follow her own will, thus, this Trixie is greater than her sisters. Therefore, this Trixie is ‘The Great and Powerful Trixie’.”
“... So… Your uh, family, called you the Powerful Trixie for your entire fillyhood? No wonder you're a bit arrogant.” Twilight mused in a not-intending-to-be-rude tone.
Trixie shook her head. “No they called this Trixie TR-A0. There are too many Trixies to have names. They have numbers… When Trixie left there were over three thousand of us.”
“This is very important information,” Luna said with a sigh. “But please, can you stop the third person?”
“No,” Trixie said with an irritated pout.
“She drank Poison Joke tea,” the doctor explained.
“Ohhhh,” Luna said ears drooping apologetically. “I apologize. There are cures for Poison Joke, I could fetch you one before we conti-”
“Trixie likes being different from other Trixies, and thinks her speech makes her endearing,” Trixie dismissed. “More questions about her family, please.”
“How powerful are you compared to your sisters?” Twilight asked curiously.
“The Great and Powerful Trixie was four times as powerful as her sisters. She has since been augmented, and believes she could match Princess Cadence or maybe Princess Luna in magical power… For a short time at least,” Trixie replied.
“I think not,” Luna said with a dismissive snort. “You are excellent at evasion, but there is no way-”
“Trixie did not once attack anypony other than your concubine. Despite easily being able to. Violence bores Trixie, it’s too easy, so she prefers to make a game of avoiding-”
“Concubine?” Luna asked wide eyed.
Twilight snickered. “Lyra’s only her friend and in her service as a Knight.”
“Oh…” Trixie embarrassedly tapped her hooves together. “Trixie just assumed, since well, if she were a Princess, she’d have pretty mares and stallions follow her around all the time, so, you know... She thought you would also do that.”
“I would. If Celestia wouldn’t be steaming mad over it…” Luna admitted with a light blush. “But Lyra’s a married mare. Completely devoted too. It’s a good thing she’s not here to hear- Oh tartarus… She’s listening in with the others…”
“Sorry Lady Lyra!” Trixie apologized, not wanting to be smacked for misunderstanding her hierarchical position.
“Anyways!” Trixie said loudly. “Trixie’s sisters are probably a third of Twilight’s strength, before she became a Princess. They number at least three thousand, and are one of four lines. Trixies are father's Shock Troopers. He also has spies, engineers, and mages. Our family is perhaps eight thousand in total.
“They are deep within the Everfree Forest, in a place known as Deepwoods, in the city of the Hearth. Trixie can mark it on a map for you. The city is underground, but there are many entrances. It’s supplies come from donors who would see farther assume Equestria’s throne, it is not self sufficient, but attempting to starve them out would only result in open warfare…
“Though that’s unavoidable. You found a Trixie, father will know, and so he will enact a standing order. Trixie’s Oldest Brother, Sacred Shadow, will mostly likely be told to take half of our family and openly attack a city, probably Ponyville… He hates Celestia greatly and knows she loves this town.
“Shadow will pretend to be in charge and happily die on the battlefield… We all would… The point of this is to trick you into thinking the organization is no more so he can work in peace again.”
“Why?” Luna asked.
“Why what?” Trixie asked back, hating the question game with the flaming passion of a quadrillion toaster ovens.
“Why tell us all of this. I know you want him dead, but you realize that whatever we do, it will result in the deaths of much of your…family,” Luna rephrased.
Trixie sighed. It was hard for her to say this, perhaps the hardest thing. But she had to, because it was true.
“My family shares my father's madness. I could not shake anypony out of their beliefs once I lost mine…” Trixie admitted. “They are all like he is. All but me… Killing them is the kind thing to do. All they can do is hate.”
“But what makes you so different?” Twilight asked, clearly uneasy with all the talk of violence. “You are more like us… Not entirely… I don’t think anypony would ever be so… Casual about plotting a murder, even a necessary one… What let you see the light?”
This was a story Trixie liked to tell! She got to tell it once before… To a squirrel who was being friendly… And not the people kind of squirrel, the rodent kind. She still liked the story though.
“Trixies are taught how to forage for food in the wild as soon as we can walk and speak,” Trixie began. “This Trixie was the first Trixie, so she was being taught by other lines. They didn’t like her much, so they let her stray from their position. Trixie had three lessons before and knew she liked peaches, and knew there was a grove with a peach tree nearby, so she went to get a peach.
“When she arrived, a pegasus stallion, who Trixie now knows to have been a forest ranger, happened to be camping in the clearing. Trixie thought he was asleep, but he wasn’t, so when she went to get a peach, but couldn’t reach any, he got one for Trixie.
“This…blew her away. She couldn’t understand why an evil person would help her. This was the foundation for Trixie’s life. Every time she was above ground and alone, she would try to find forest rangers. They always were kind and helped her, while her family was cold and indifferent. This left Trixie confused, and with lots to think about.
“Then, one afternoon, Trixie sat on the top of a tree, thinking, and something somewhere exploded. Trixie doesn't know what, but it sent a prismatic shockwave across the entire sky. It was the most beautiful thing Trixie ever saw, and it made everything click. The kind, colorful, joyous world outside of home was where Trixie should be, not with her family.
“It… It took many more years for her to get the courage to leave home. The day Twilight and Trixie first met was months after Trixie finally left, but that rainbow explosion-”
“Wait. What?” Twilight asked, ears standing upright. “Did you say ‘rainbow explosion’?”
Trixie nodded. “Yes.”
“I knew it!” Twilight exclaimed eagerly. “More ponies than just my friends and I were effected by the Sonic Rainboom! This confirms several parts of my theories! So you saw the rainboom, and then understood your purpose and drive in life. Did you also gain your Cutiemark then?”
Trixie shook her head. “Trixies are ‘born’ with our marks. Trixies are designed and grown in tanks using genetic material harvested from various sources to introduce slight variance between Trixies. Trixies are never Foals. They start life equivalent to a twelve year old filly. But that was when Trixie understood that she would rather amuse others with her skills than kill.”
Twilight nodded, seemingly quite satisfied. “Luna, we can trust her.”
Luna nodded. “I read your paper on the subject.” She gave Trixie a nod. “Ms. Lulamoon, you are free to go if you wish, after showing me on a map where the Hearth is. If you wish to help with the military operations, you may.”
Trixie shook her legs as Luna let go of her. They had fallen asleep on Trixie and it was most irritating.
“Uh, not to get off topic, but Equestria has an explosive device that can give ponies the inspiration to discover their special talents?” The doctor asked curiously.
“Oh! No no no, my friend Rainbow Dash can break the sound barrier and the hypersonic barrier at the same time, causing a large magical discharge that rides the shock wave. The first time she did this, she earned her cutiemark, and that particular instance of the Rainboom seems to have carried residual cutiemark related magics with it, affecting at least my friends and I and now we have a confirmed case of it effecting somepony else too. It’s a science mystery I’ve been working on for years.”
“Ah. I see, und that sounds actually interesting. I would love to talk about it when there isn’t a death cult of clones literally a few kilometers away!” The doctor said bitterly. “You all seem very calm, considering the situation.”
Luna laughed. “Lily, we would be in trouble if we didn’t have Trixie’s intelligence. As it is, I’m already planning a surgical strike to occur when this Sacred Shadow is dispatched. Hit them when they have half their forces to use… Of course I will need someway to protect Ponyville… Ah well that’s a problem I probably have time to think over. Er, or do I?”
Luna looked at Trixie with concern.
“Oh!” Trixie exclaimed. “Father's plan calls for one or two months to allow you to discover parts of the operation. To make it look authentic. There is time.”
“See? We have intelligence and time on our side. Everything is far better than I expected,” Luna said to Lily.
It was good that somepony said his name. It was starting to get very awkward that I forgot it. Especially since I remembered that biomancers could do far more than heal. There were several things Trixie would enjoy getting done, and here was a pony who could do them, and most definitely would help Trixie because he would hate that his father was helping her father.
“I suppose…” Lily mused.
“Right then… Lily, you're a part of events and you can enhance ponies,” Twilight said decisively. “This is a royal order, work on some form of enhancement for anypony you can think of. Find a volunteer, and see if you can’t upgrade somepony’s magic, or whatever it is you can do. If we will be fighting on two fronts, we will want more heavy hitters… We have what, twenty?”
Luna nodded. “Clever idea, I wouldn’t have thought of that.”
“Trixie has a few things she would like augmented.” Trixie said eagerly.
Lily nodded. “I’ll help, and gladly… It feels nice to be proactive instead of reactive for a change… It’s sad that it’s war related though.”
Trixie understood those feelings. Fighting was too easy to be fun, and therefore, fighting was sad. This made sense. Trixie liked Lily. But not like that. She wasn’t into girly-colts.
“Do what you can for her, but find somepony else. Trixie is already good enough. She’s better than anypony on the other side at least.”
Trixie quickly shook her head. “Trixie is only the best Trixie. There are better ponies than Trixie in the Ashes.”
Sacred for instance. He was father's own clone, and thus our Oldest Brother. Or at least, the current Sacred was. There had been a lot of Sacreds.
“Ah, so you want me to make a hero from scratch… And I have a month. I will do my best.” Lily said adamantly.
“Good, then we have a plan,” Luna said in a satisfied tone. “Here comes the worst part of the day. Trixie, will you please come with me and repeat everything you told us and anything you left out so my sister can hear it?”
Trixie sighed. “Yes, Trixie can… But can she do what she came here to do first? Trixie wanted to search the old Ashes Lab hidden under this fort for any equipment she might be able to use.”
“We found that lab,” Lily mentioned off hoof.
Luna nodded. “All of the equipment is currently in Canterlot.”
“Oh,” Trixie said with a sad ear droop. “Well… Trixie will need some good armor then. Can she borrow some?”
Luna nodded. “I’ll see what can be arranged.”
Trixie smiled happily. “Then Trixie is happy to serve the Equestrian Princesses.”
Trixie didn’t think she could possibly be more happy, and yet more sad than she was now. With the Princesses firmly on her side, she knew the chances of the kind and joyous world she’d come to love would have the best chance of surviving. On the other hoof, she knew it meant her father would most likely die. And that broke her heart, and not just because he had made her heart feel that way, but also because she knew that he would never be able to feel happiness. His heart was too black and bitter.
Not wanting to get depressed Trixie decided to reflect on the fact that she had kissed Princess Luna today, and thus could check that off her bucket list. She spent a lot of time focusing on that as the day marched onwards into the brighter future.